Astigmatism

In the astigmatic eye, the front of the cornea is not equally round; it is slightly oval in shape. As a result, the rays of light that enter the eye are bent unequally and cause distortion of the image, resulting in loss of visual acuity.

Your vision will be sharper with a special lens that has extra power in a specific direction in the lens. This will help to correct for the shape of your eye. As it’s a correction for the shape of the eye, it will help sharpen vision at all distances.

Many people have some degree of astigmatism

How to check if your current glasses have a correction for astigmatism:

  • Hold your existing spectacles away from your eyes
  • Look at a distant object with a straight surface through one of the lenses
  • Rotate the lens. If you can clearly see the distortion of the straight surface as you rotate the lens you are likely to have lenses that correct for astigmatism.

How do you see the fan below? Do all lines appear equally clear? If not, you may have some degree of astigmatism.

At Supersavors Opticians

Eye tests are the best way to detect for astigmatism. We have a dedicated team of optometrists and opticians who are fully qualified and have a lot of experience in eye-care. We use the latest technology available to carry out sight examinations. Based on these tests, an optician can assess the health of your eyes and check your vision. This will enable us to prescribe the best form of correction, be it through contact lenses, glasses or referral to an eye specialist for further investigation or treatment if necessary. Call in to our branches today to find out if you have astigmatism and obtain the right correction for it.

Signs that you might have an astigmatism

If your notice that your vision is distorted from both close up reading to looking into the distance, you may have astigmatism. This is not uncommon, with more than 95% of the population having some level of astigmatism after all our bodies are rarely perfectly asymmetrical.

Astigmatism and Contact Lenses

Due to recent advances in technology it is now possible to get contact lenses if you have an astigmatism. Soft contact lenses wrap to the shape of the eye and can be made in a form, whereby the power varies across the lens. Known as toric lenses, they require more specialist fitting than basic soft contact lenses as the angle and power of the correction needs to be matched to your requirements and made so that they will float appropriately in your eye. These are normally daily wear disposable lenses or may be of that type that are replaced after either two weeks or a month.